Deuteronomy, 1

1.These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel, at the other side of the Jordan River, in the Arabah desert. They were facing Suf, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab.

2.From Mount Horeb to Kadesh-Barnea they had had a journey of eleven days through the mountains of Seir.

3.But now it was the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year after they left Egypt, when Moses told the children of Israel all that Yahweh had commanded him regarding them.

4.After defeating Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan who ruled in Ashtaroth and in Edrei,

5.Moses began to explain this law. They were in the land of Moab, at the other side of the Jordan.

6.Moses said, "Yahweh, our God, spoke to us at Mount Horeb: 'You have stayed long enough at this mountain.

7.Leave this place and go into the territory of the Amorites and to its neighboring peoples in the Arabah, the Mountains, the Lowlands, the Negeb and the seacoast, into the land of Canaan and Lebanon up to the great Euphrates River.

8.Look: I offer you this land; you will take possession of it and live in the land which Yahweh swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and to all their descendants.'

9.I said to you at that time: 'I alone cannot be responsible for all of you.

10.Yahweh, your God, has multiplied you, and now, you are as numerous as the stars in heaven.

11.May Yahweh, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times more and bless you just as he promised.

15.Thus, I chose from among the heads of your tribes wise and experienced men and placed them over you as leaders of the thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and also as secretaries for each tribe.

16.And I gave this order to the judges: 'Attend to the complaints of your brothers, and judge with justice the lawsuit between an Israelite and his brother, or between an Israelite and a foreigner who lives in your midst.

17.Do not be influenced by anyone when you judge, but listen to the poor and the rich alike, to the powerful as well as the weak, and do not be afraid of anyone because you act in place of God. And if there arises a very difficult case for you, refer this to me and I will attend to it.'

19.Finally, having left Horeb, we passed through that wide and terrible desert that we saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as Yahweh had commanded us, and arriving at Kadesh-Barnea,

20.I said to you: 'We have come to the mountain of the Amorites which Yahweh, our God, gives us.

21.Look, Israel, at the land which Yahweh gives you; take possession of that which was promised to your fathers. Do not be afraid or discouraged.'

22.Then all of you gathered around me and said to me: 'Better send some men before us to explore the land and map out the roads leading to the cities where we are to go.'

23.That was a good suggestion, so I took twelve men from among you, one from each tribe,

24.who set out and climbed the mountains on foot until they came to the Valley of the Grapevines.

25.And once there, they took with them the fruits of the valley, and upon their return recounted to us what they had seen. They told us: 'The land which Yahweh gives us is a good land.'

26.Nevertheless, you did not want to go up into the mountains but rebelled against the commands of Yahweh.

27.And you began to murmur in your tents: 'Yahweh does not like us; he made us leave Egypt to turn us over to the Amorites who in turn will kill us all.

28.Where shall we go? The messengers have frightened us with what they told us: The people who live in the land are greater and taller than us. The cities are great and are fortified with high walls. We have seen giants there as in times past.'